The Power of Tomoeda
by wicherwill
Summary: If Syaoran was trained from birth, why is he so weak? If Touya's magic could sustain Yue, it must be strong. If Nadeshiko could keep her form while a ghost, she's powerful. A story of whatif...FINISHED WITH EPILOGUE
1. Default Chapter

Tomoeda Chronicle, Page 43Z 

**A** young boy of 10-14 has been spotted wandering the streets at night. He is reported to have a sword at times, and is thought to be a runaway from the lock-down Tae Kwon Do school in southern Japan. **Editor's Note**: The boy has been identified only as Xiao. Sightings should be reported to Li Wei, 7563859027.

Li Syaoran shook the paper and closed it.

"Wei-san, that was brilliant," Wei smiled.

"Will Syaoran-sama be going out tonight?" Syaoran put down the paper.

"Hai…got behind on my work. Seen the front page? About a girl beating up on karate masters? She's Fight," he walked into his room and came back moments later in his green robes.

"Ja, Wei-san."

"Just come back safe."

~*~

Syaoran paced through Tomoeda, in a hurry to find the card.

"Oi! Fight! I know you're there!" There was silence, and then she jumped out of the water. Syaoran tilted his head to the side.

"Fight. Nice to meet you." She put her hands up and charged without warning. Smirking, he sidestepped her and stuck out his foot. She was down and up in a heartbeat. They bowed, and she charged again.

Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the deficiencies of karate black belts. He jumped up, landing on top of the card's shoulders before she noticed him and delivered Wei's pounding. She threw him off, and he rebounded off the pole to kick her squarely in the side. She charged again, coming in with her left. He blocked, and did a three; right-left-right. When she blocked them all, he decided this had gone on long enough. Without warning, he threw her up and kicked her, hard, into the fence. She faltered, tried to get up, and failed. 

Syaoran walked over and summoned his sword. Taking out the jewel from his hat, he slid it onto the blade.

_Card created by Clow, return to your card state!_ She dissipated and Syaoran caught the card. He was about to throw it up when he felt something. Placing the jewel back in his hat, he turned to run towards the trees. _Best not get behind again…_

~*~

In the middle of the forest, the card sensed him and cloaked itself again. Syaoran sighed and pulled out his compass. Annoying thing, took forever. 

A burst of fire landed on his sleeve, startling him. _And it distracts me._ He put it away and pulled out his sword.

"God of Sealing, Come Forth!" blue light enveloped the forest, forcing the card to show itself. Firey (AN: ever noticed Clow didn't spell that correctly?) appeared from a small flame, still confident. The seal kept him inside too.

He jumped aside as a blazing column of fire reduced to a puddle the rock he was standing on. He would have to be careful, it seemed. She was at her zenith.

Jumping up into the trees, he quickly hopped from one to another, hoping she would try and pick him out individually. He sped up when she ran out of patience, as trees fell in clumps of ashes behind him. _Damn it, what did Wei-san say about this card again?_

'Syaoran-sama! Firey is overconfident and extremely headstrong! Remember that she puts no finish spell on her attacks!'

Syaoran smiled and pulled out a special ofuda. Jumping out of the tree and directly in front of Firey, he taunted her.

"Nyahh, try your hardest!" Firey swept around in rage and concentrated a column in front of her. She smiled wickedly as she blasted raw magic at the boy. Syaoran waited until it was right in front of him…then _sliced_ it with his sword as it suddenly dissipated. 

Firey watched as he tried to contain the magic in his sword. _Foolish boy, I am Firey!_

Syaoran sneered at the confident look on the card's face. _Did you honestly think that you could defeat _me_ so easily?_ Taking out the ofuda, he blasted the fire right back through it.

"Fire to Water!" Firey watched, horrified, as the intensity of its blast was converted to water. Within seconds, she slumped to the ground, defeated.

Syaoran stepped near the fallen spirit and sealed it. Then, he threw both cards in the air and tapped both gently. Obediently, the two spirits hovered in front of him, even without his writing his name on the cards. With a single movement, he sliced both cards in two. At the same time, he sealed the area, preventing the spirits from escaping. They both jumped in shock and turned to him.

"Just…go easy on her, okay?" the cards stared at him, then both gave barely perceivable nods. Fight placed her hand on his forehead.

_::This shall be thine only request of us?::_

_Yes._

_::It shalt be dully preformed with greatest honour.::_

_Thank you._

The two spirits bowed deeply and then vanished into thin air. Syaoran turned around, surveying and grimacing at the damaged trees. He selected another card and threw it up.

"Time! Reverse the effects on these trees!" the soft yellow light coated the piles of ash as time reversed and they stood again. Calling back the card, he began walking back home. He stopped in front of the school, then resigned himself and picked the lock. He stopped in front of the music room. He closed his eyes for a second, and then walked in. _Song._

The card activated upon seeing him, and quickly tried to escape. He slapped a binding on the door, and the true form of the card appeared. It began singing – where had he heard that song before? That voice? _Ah. Daidouji-san._

He removed the binding and walked out, breaking into a sprint that carried him all the way home. As he approached the door, Wei-san opened it softly.

"Syaoran-sama! What happened to your cheek?" Syaoran brushed his cheek and winced when he hit a sore burn spot.

"Found Firey along the way…guess I didn't move fast enough," Wei placed his hand over the spot. Syaoran felt the pain ebbing away with the familiar cooling sensation of a healing spell.

"Meiling?"

"Convinced her that you were out running for the marathon after she came back from getting her luggage. She's sleeping in the spare room."

"Good," he replied, "I'm going to take a shower and see if I can't get at least five hours."

"Oyasumi nasai, Syaoran-sama."

"Oyasumi, Wei-san." Syaoran swung his sword back out and shrunk it, relishing the loss of weight.

Wei sat in his chair long after the light had turned off, watching the door.

"I believe something might come of that, still."

~*_Fini_*~

AN: Well, I wrote it. I'd appreciate a review, since if you're reading this you've read the entire thing, or you might just be checking to see if this was really finished. 

I wrote this on the spur of the moment, because of two things. One, if Syaoran has really been training all his life and whatnot, then he should really be top form, and shouldn't have gotten hit by Fight. And two, if Clow really captured the spirit of these elements in his cards, Firey should have been technically much, much stronger. So I made something that would explain that.

Thanks for reading, and do leave a review!

wichy ^_~


	2. Chapter 2

"Ni Hao!" I twitched and turned around. Meiling? Already? But Wei-san was supposed to go pick her up…

"SYAORAN! I MISSED YOU! What…" she turned to him, "What are these two _girls _doing here?" I watched bemusedly as Meiling quite literally threw them out and slammed the door.

"Meiling, that was the," I think about how to say this. "That was the other Card Captor." There's a brief, ringing silence and then she bursts out into hysterical laughter. It's quite scary, really.

"Syaoran…that's funny…"

"I'm…not… _joking_," I reply. She stops.

"The mahou sensor Auntie gave me barely _pricked_ at the one with mud hair. If that's the other one, then this should be no problem. How many do you have so far?" I don't meet her glance.

"_Syaoran_…answer me." I take a deep breath and start counting. _Ichii…nii…san…_

"Listen, Meiling. I've been…I've been catching the cards and weakening them for her." She states at me incredulously, one daintily-picked eyebrow arching far into her fringe.

"Nani?!"

"Do me a favour. Just…don't tell her how powerful I really am, please?" She Looks at me for a second, and I almost think she's about to refuse. Then she suddenly sighs.

"Hai. Whatever," she smiles, "but you better try your hardest!"

                                                                                                                        ~*~

_'Here…I'll use Time…use Sleep!'_

I waited for her to finish, and conveniently collapse, the picture of tiredness. Any moment now, she's going to seal the card. And it *will* come willingly…I can still see my seal, although it's merging into the spirit. Funny, they seem to be almost melting.

All of a sudden she runs off. _Baka!_ I want to scream, _no! Get back here!_ I swear, as fatigue begins to set in. As much power as I have, Time is no pushover. And my seal is disintegrating. I gather it back, and Firey stretches. _Damn…now she's going to have to use a fusion._

Sakura comes running back, all ready. And pulls out – Windy. _No! _I want to say. But I hold myself back. Slowly, I leak my magic onto the flames. They roar up, and it holds them back. We'd be _enfants à brûler_ by now otherwise.

I watch as she puts two and two together and takes out Watery too. 

_You're going to use two _high _cards!_

"You're going to use two _high_ cards!" The words are out of my mouth before I can stop myself. Even after she calls upon their power to supplement hers, her magic is nowhere near strong enough to use and control them.

I throw a bundle of power to her without thought. Watery immediately stops and checks the magic. I can see her putting pieces together, how she was sealed twice. She screeches and twines with Windy. Firey was still an equal match – but she throws me a Look and gives herself up. Sakura runs and seals it, jubilant. 

I turn and walk away, ready to throw myself in bed for the next year or so. I walk out of the bush and see everyone still asleep. _Not good…_Green magic surrounds each body as they are moved into a standing position and woken up. Touya eyes me with an evil glare, and I respond sleepily. So sleepily, in fact, that I almost miss what feels right now like the moon crashed on the Earth. That…and sunglasses… _Nod and shrug, just nod and shrug…_I look up and feel that teacher standing far into the distance. It's too far to actually make a difference, but I pull out an enhancer to check her out.

That's when it all went blank.   

AN: I've decided to turn this into a mini-series type thing…The Power of Tomoeda. It's going to showcase the various magical people in Tomoeda, and how powerful they _really_ are, in my view. I'm thinking Touya, doing Syaoran, Wei, Kaho, Nadeshiko, etc. And to finish it off, some magical demonic catastrophe that all these people put together defeat in front of Sakura. Should be neat. And maybe a thing on how the love that Tomoyo stitches into her costumes actually _does_ amout to something…but that's been done over and out.


	3. Touya's Cut

Touya's Cut

Kinomoto Touya took a last breath lying on his back in bed. Sakura was back from that last card, and there was nothing holding him back from going up on the roof, like he had done all his life. Nothing except this warm feeling, half-asleep in bed, that would elude him when he returned.

That pressing feeling in his mind was insistent, however, and he forced himself out of bed. Grabbing the bell that was his mother's gift to him, he walked onto the roof.

Standing, he mimed the door.

"The door to the seventh heaven," 

With two hands, slashed it, circled it, and poked it twice

_"bound with the seals,"_

And placed his right hand, twisting it to the left and right.

"Opened for those who will enter tonight," 

And rang the bell.

_"Calling them hence." It doesn't rhyme, or make much sense, Touya-kun, but this is your duty._

_"Hai, 'kaa-san," replied the little boy, so serious._

"But…for now, let's do something fun. The piano!" 

He was jolted out of his reverie by the first one, begging to enter. He placed a hand on her head; or at least where it should have been.

Bed…hospital bed…mortal sickness…ah, cancer? 

::Yes…::

_Life…gone? Doctor? Ah, mistake._

::Hai::

_Brought to Judgment…twice mistaken. Never mind. True soul within. You may enter._ As soon as he thought it, a door in front of him shone, and admitted the sprit of the lady. He had barely a moment to bask when it shut and another was pushed forward.  

_Gun…revenge…for mother…True soul within. You may enter._

_Fall…mountain…other-partner-brother? tried to save…death pinned on soul. However… True soul within. You may enter._

_Natural death. True soul within. You may enter._

Accident…car-van-seven seats. Hit motorcycle-Honda-red? Killed man-beard-brown. True soul within. You may enter.

Touya tilted his neck, feeling the crack. How many tonight? He had lost it at around four hundred. And so far, not one…he had spoke too soon.

_Gun. Police…three? Defensive…after murder? Woman-old-African? Absence of a true soul. You may not pass._ The spirit seemed surprised for a second, but charged at the door rather than fall back down to the bottom. Touya's eyes narrowed, filled with the light of helping thousands of others.

_You. May. Not. PASS!_ Spreading out his arms, he sealed the door as the spirit collided with him. Snapping and clapping his hands, he Banished it to the lower ladder, where it would be forced to climb back up.

The light faded and the cold chill set in, remnants of his Banish. Damn. Now the cold would stay with him through the night.

Stumbling down to the kitchen, he bumped into a tall body.

"Tea is on the table, along with a change of clothes," he looked over the boy, his own son. Icicles were still hanging off his ears and hair, and he was chilled. He walked upstairs, a proud smile on his face.

Touya sat down, sipping the tea. The radiator was on; he was sure that they were the only family in all of Japan that had heat bills in the dead of summer. Sighing, he changed and fell on his bed.

.:*:.:*:.:*:.:*:.:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.:*: .:*:.

AN: Okay, who is confused?

Well, what I was going for is that Touya essentially spends most nights judging spirits (ghosts) so that they can go to the seventh heaven. And that requires a lot of power, and Banishing bag spirits back to the lowest takes even more power – and it has a toll on the life.

And what he does it he has to piece together details from what he can see inside a sprits head. That's why he starts with like 'car' and eventually ends at 'van, seven seats'.

Oh, and his mother was the one in italics before, since that was her job when she was alive.

Read and review!


	4. Chapter Three

Syaoran walked carefully towards the door of the auditorium, avoiding both the janitor and his irritating cat. _Come to think of it, that cat* seems drawn to magic…_He bent down to come face to face with the doorknob, pulling out an ofuda and opening the lock. Slipping in, he readied a complicated spell, for the moment—

He sprung forward with his sword as the blackness enveloped the whole of the auditorium, erasing what little light was left. His sword, however, shone in the dark, as would he unless he let go. Dark knew, and he knew that Dark knew, and Dark knew that he knew that Dark knew. It wasn't absolutely certain, but by the way he tightened his grasp, one would assume that he knew that Dark knew that he knew that Dark knew. 

In any case, he had to keep a good firm grasp on his sword.

Dark was squirming, he knew, and he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of power it was throwing to extinguish the light that was threatening her complete domain. It only meant that her guardian was getting stronger, which would mean a tougher opponent. 

All the better for when he had to bring the cards back to the Elders. He twisted his sword, and Dark gave in with a final cry of anguish. 

"I can't access Light right now, so tell her when you do meet her," he looked into the half-dead eyes of Dark, "to go easy on the other one, Sakura." Dark nodded, miserable without her other half. Syaoran rolled his eyes. Turning and bringing his sword down, he put Dark to sleep.

Walking out into a small patch of trees, he pulled out the rest of the week's takings. Snow, Cloud, and Sand. Slicing them in half, he glared at each one in turn.

"Behave yourselves. Go easy on her. Etcetera." Syaoran turned and walked back to his house. Most of the cards were sealed. He couldn't wait…for the Final Judgement.

~*~

Do you know what Time really is?

It is not simply stopping time in the area that you are glancing upon. 

Time is stopping the flow of time. The entire flow. It is like stopping the greatest of greatest of rivers from flowing dead, while all the while it wants to continue flowing.

Wei-san once told me that no matter how hard your try, you cannot stop the water from the faucet.

And just to prove him wrong, I stopped the water.

"Hoe, Li-kun, daijoubu?"

"Hai," I sit up and remove the towel, "that's nothing for me." Of course, it could have been even less of nothing, but that stupid stuffed animal of yours was taking forever to expose the dream. And someone was holding me back, telling me to wait until you finished with that Tokyo Tower dream of yours.

Someone was holding the water back so I couldn't let it go.

Someone is stopping me. And I must find out who. 

~*~

AN: okay, here we find out some crucialistic plot junkie stuff…and we know that Syaoran has caught this and this…*throws the rest of the index cards in the trash somewhere* Forget that.

*The cat that seems to always be around when cards are being caught…it chases Sakura, becomes big, etc. For a really great story on The Cat, read Ciircee's Morals, Mange and Misadventures in Male Bonding. I like that story. Wow, a selfless plug. Amazing!

And don't forget to review!

wicherwill o_o (too much computer time…)


	5. Chapter Four

I wait, turning more and more red. Any moment now, she's going to kiss me…I feel myself turning red…

My eyes snap open. Dark! She's exposing herself! Sakura almost immediately begins just radiating fear, and I sit up. I need to create a light for myself, but not anytime soon. Seems like Dark still hasn't recovered from her bout with me.

"Be careful! It's the work of a Clow Card! It's Da-," suddenly some Moon power just _slams_ into both Dark and myself. Completely unawares, I feel myself fading away. _Damn!_

~*~

Syaoran sat down, one hand on his sword, which was now shining. Suddenly, he picked it up and pointed it to something in the darkness. After a short while, a figure with long red hair appeared. Syaoran's eyes opened wider in surprise, but his sword remained where it was.

"Li-kun. There really is no need to be so alert."

"It's…you. You've been blocking my magic, haven't you?"

"I cannot deny it."

"Doushite no?"

"Li-kun, tell me, what have you been doing?"

"I have been weakening the cards for the other cardcaptor."

"No…tell me, truly, what this means." Syaoran started at her, then turned his head away.

"Something along the lines of fooling her into a false sense of security?" He didn't miss Kaho's nod.

"Did you know that Clow made three mistakes?" Syaoran turned around, startled.

"But the books tell of just two!"

"Because the third mistake lies in you."

"Me?"

"Clow did not expect you to push yourself this hard. He did not expect you to destroy any previous precedents of standard power in a child. In short," here she looked almost half-pained, half-sorry, "he did not expect you to be the worthy candidate for the Card Master." Syaoran's brow furrowed in understanding.

"You are basically telling me that I should…give up the cards." Kaho slowly nodded, fixing her gaze on the young boy.

"You've studied Clow's life, have you not?"

"Of course."

"Then you know how he died? The real reason?"

"Yes." This time it was Kaho who showed surprise.

"You were willing to take an early death to please the Elders?" Syaoran looked away once more.

"It was to be my duty." Kaho started to say something when the darkness shimmered and dissipated.

"You all came back! Yokata!" Syaoran jumped when Sakura glomped him. 

"Oi! Everything's okay!" He flushed, and then caught the teacher's eye in the back stage.

'You know what to do,' she mouthed. Syaoran stopped moving.

He did know…but was he going to be able to do it?

~*~

AN: Well, after this is going to be the Final Judgment, then Nadeshiko's Cut, cause my idea of her magic requires Eriol. Sorry Anime Queen, but it should be up pretty soon. I also just realized that the beginning part was written in the present tense. Weird.

And these chapters are getting shorter…well, then I just have to write more, ne?

To my reviewers: lots of love to you all, and I'll be formally thanking you the last chapter.

To everyone else: hey, you can review too!

Until next time,

                        wicherwill ^_^


	6. Chapter Five

Final Judgment

I watch the archery tournament with a critical eye. It's actually closer than Kinomoto and Daidouji think – these two are very evenly matched. 

That is, until Mizuki-sensei flies wide. Very wide. I don't think she knew she was capable of going so wide. It's like a sudden surprise when you stare at result, or learn something new…

Like how I must step aside to let Kinomoto become the Card Mistress. 

~*~

My brooding continues as I feel the Earth rumbling. I watch Kinomoto call out her key, choose Fly, tell me to watch over everyone…then I realize. She's about to fly at Earthy without a second glance. 

"Be…be careful."

"Oh? Hai!" she's off without a second glance. I sneak a glance at that teacher. She's masked herself with the spirit of the trees, to keep her shrine safe. Very slowly and very cautiously, I form the idea of the Chinese wheel in my head. _Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water. Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water. Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water… _ 

She's moving fast; the damn spirit has spotted her, I suppose. I press the wheel on her subconscious thoughts. With my luck, she'll 'think' of a solution fast, and the teacher won't realize.

I feel her summoning Woody, and I relax. So far, everything is okay…

_Wait a minute…_I start mentally ticking off cards. _This is the last one_._ Then…_ My gaze falls upon Tsukishiro-san. Looking up, I can see that teacher nodding slightly. I freeze.

Kinomoto will never be able to fight against Yueh.

~*~

"Not even able to catch all the cards yourself?" I stand, waiting for Yueh to start the judgment.

Frozen shards make their way towards me. _Watch, dive, fake injury…_I jump back up and take out my sword.

'Time!'

_'Fool, that card obeys me!'_ I smirk and watch as Yueh's eyes open in surprise as the spirit overtakes him and his seal on them. When Time completely stops, I walk over and touch the guardian on the forehead. He comes back and immediately tries to throw me down. I twist it and place my sword on his neck.

"Listen. This is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm going to release Time. I'm going to let it take me. You are going to defeat me. And then _you will forget that this conversation ever took place_. It's regular speech, but I place just a tab of mesmer in my voice. Yueh looks at me quizzically.

"After this is over, I am going to figure out your true motive," he leaves another statement hanging, one I can't answer, "but why? Why sacrifice what is clearly within your grasp?"

I shake my head and strike Time again. As the blackness takes over my mind, Yueh's voice echoes in my head.

_Why?_

~*~

"Yokata!" my head begins to spin as Kinomoto whirls me round and round and round. Suddenly my region of the body commonly used for sitting is introduced to the hard stone floor. Wincing, I look up to see Kinomoto, furiously apologizing. I say nothing, but I cannot help but smile.

As she wanders over to Kerberos (after all this time, he deserves the name), Daidouji comes over to me.

"I was wondering…why would Li-kun hide his strength from Sakura-chan?" I jump.

"How…how do you know?" In response, she simply plays back a file…of me, fighting Snow with my ofudas.

"And then I noticed. Why would Li-kun only smile for Sakura-chan?" I turn red and look at the ground.

"And you must then be protecting Sakura-chan…and so I wondered. Could Li-kun like Sakura-chan?" I sputter.

"Na-nani? Iie! Ii-e." Daidouji simply gives me that smug I-know-you-are-lying-and-I-also-know-something-else Look.

_But honestly, really. I couldn't actually _like_ Kinomoto._

_I mean, come on._

_Hontou._

_Oh my god._

_I do._

~*~

AN: And that basically finishes Syaoran's explanations. Next Nadeshiko's Cut, which comes after the arrival of Eriol. In the meanwhile, seems like someone sped pretty fast through the denial process…  

I'm so happy! I'm on the favourite author list of Semmerie. Go check her out! Her stories are really interesting and funny!

Oh yeah, feel free at any time to drop me an e-mail too. And review and whatnot. You review me, I will review you.

Until next time,

                        Wichy ^____^


	7. Nadeshiko's Cut

"Class, we have a new student. Everybody welcome…Hiiragizawa Eriol."

Nadeshiko's Cut

"And then, she walks up to Gabriel and goes, Excuse me? I didn't see _you_ doing any work. And believe it or not, God himself pardoned him. can you imagine?" Nadeshiko joined in laughing along with the rest of her friends.

"Ne, Nadeshiko, you're so naïve and innocent!"

"Aren't we all? I mean, wasn't that the pass to get in here?"

"Well, some people positively abuse the privilege." The group of angels paused and then broke out laughing. 

"Nadeshiko, what's going on with your daughter and those cards?" She paused a moment. 

"Well, she caught them all. And nothing bad has happened since then." 

"Don't say anything, you'll jinx it!" But Nadeshiko wasn't listening. 

"Seems like it's already too late," she said, pointing with one slender finger. Down below, Kinomoto Sakura was running like mad from torrents of water that she could not control. 

"Oh, Nadeshiko...that's okay, she'll turn out fine!" The angel grimaced when Sakura was narrowly saved from serious injury by Kerberos. She turned to the mother, a weak smile on her face. 

"Nadeshiko? Nadeshiko?" she turned to the group of angels. 

"Someone's trying to hurt my Sakura-chan...someone's gotten on my bad side..." 

"Nadeshiko! You can't leave! You know the rules..." it was too late, as she took off towards the ground, hurtling along at breakneck speed. The rest of the angels facefaulted. 

"Ne, I feel sorry for whomever that was..." 

~*~ 

Hiiragizawa Eriol watched as the group ran away. 

"Mou, she can't even summon her staff? This is going to be harder than I thought." 

"Ruby Moon, you know your only duty is to stop the Mistress' brother from revealing Yue to his false form." 

"That's right! I get the fun of being with my TO-YA-KUN!" The other two sweatdropped at the sight. 

"Spinel Sun, did you get the reading for the remaining cards?" And for the town?" The cat nodded. 

"I estimate half a year for the rest of the cards, before they begin to have serious troubles. And for the town itself, it's strang-AAAAH!" He found himself suddenly pressed, _hard_, against the tree trunk. Looking out of the side of his eye, he saw that Ruby was in the same condition, while Eriol-sama was slightly less effected. 

With great effort, Eriol threw off the paralysis. Standing at guard, he looked around. 

"Dare? Come on out!" A feather landed on his sleeve, and he looked up. It was a...ghost? But ghosts... 

There was no time to think about it. He barely moved away as a beam of light blasted through where he had been just milliseconds before, destroying everything in its path. He shot a ring of fire, but the lady simply sidestepped it and threw out her hands. Instantly, Eriol could feel his body freeze. What had knocked him before was mere grains in comparison to this attack. 

He willed himself to collapse, and when the lady reduced the power, he threw it off and called out a sealing spell. She brushed it off like cobwebs and shaped her light power into a stick vaguely resembling his staff. She was...mocking him. 

Eriol stopped for a second then raised his own staff high. He screeched a High Seal command, feeling the intensity of it seriously reduce his magical reserves. His throat was extremely sore, and he would have to fix that soon if he wished to be able to speak within the next month. He stopped, relaxing for a bit and watching the still form of the lady. Who was she? 

Eriol's eyes widened as the seal began to crack. Within seconds, it shattered. She looked around hurriedly, then gathered up all that power and blasted it back at him. The force of the impact slammed him against the bottom of the tree. Instantly she was upon him, a frozen spell levelled right at his neck. He wouldn't be able to survive an impact at this proximity, and he spread out his arms in surrender. The lady backed away, cautiously, and he placed his staff before him. He'd beat her later; now, the pressing thing was figuring out who she was. He heard two soft thumps behind him, and his two guardians stood beside him. 

"Onamae wa?" The lady unfroze her spell and dissolved it, taking her time to make sure no remnants were left. Then she touched him with the end of her stick, and he felt his throat numb. 

::Watashi...Kinomoto Nadeshiko des.:: Eriol looked at her. 

"Demo...you...died..." 

::Hai.:: 

"Then..?" Nadeshiko answered with a question of her own. 

::What were you doing to my daughter?"" Eriol smiled. 

"Your daughter must transform all the cards into her own in order to keep them imprisoned." 

::And..._onamae_ wa?:: 

"Hiiragizawa Eriol des...the reincarnation of Clow Reed." Nadeshiko stopped, then burst out in cheerful peals of laughter. 

::Ah...gomen-nasai. I've talked to Clow-kun. Cheerful chap, but I daresay I didn't see the similarity until now.:: 

"Iie. I take it then I have your permission to help your daughter?" 

::Of course! Just do me one favour,:: she leaned in furtively, ::help that little Li Syaoran boy with his...feelings for my daughter.:: She straightened and laughed. Eriol held out one hand. 

"Kinomoto-san, I believe this will be the start of a beautiful friendship." 

::Watashi mo, to 'Nadeshiko' ii.:: 

"Hai, Nadeshiko-san." Eriol watched as she drifted up, slowly dissipating. Then, he turned to his guardians, who both looked quite shell-shocked. 

"Staffs, crushes, overprotective ghosts with psychic powers...well, I think that's enough for one night!" 

~*~ 

AN: So...What did you think? I like it, personally, although the scene with Nadeshiko was a bit rushed and hasty until I added the bit about meeting Clow-san in heaven. The Japanese is just put in there, I don't guarantee and sort of correctness. For the record, this is what I think... 

**Dare** - Who [is there]?  
**Oname wa?** - Who are you? (this is different from **dare**, which is what Sakura uses in her dreams a lot.)  
**___ des** - My name is ___  
**Watashi (mo)** -- (same with) me/I  
**to ___ ii** - ____ is fine (in Japan, you call people you don't know well by their surnames/family names)  
**Gomen(-nasai)** - tell me you know this one...Sorry, and the nasai is optional.  
**Demo** - but  
**Ano** - Um  
**Hai/Iie** - Yes/No 

Well, I don't know how right that is, but it would get you across. I have in mind just 2-3 more chapters, so this is going to end soon. And that means I have to figure out what to write next...I have all these things, just have to type them up. 

Please review, and thank yous to all who have already. 

Until next time,  
wicherwill ^_^ 

P.S. I'm kinda on the pathway to being really sick, so if I don't update tomorrow like usual, it's prolly cause of that.


	8. Chapter Six

Li Syaoran was currently moving at excessively high speeds towards the Kinomoto residence. So fast, in fact, that if one was to stand by the path he was taking, a faint *pop* could be heard following the breath of wind that was the Li clan's future head.

It was actually quite interesting; after coming home from school that day, he had detected a strong aura coming from her house. When he had scryed, he had discovered that it had come from a teddy bear. This, of course, was enough to hook him in.

It was a simple matter of prying open the window and lowering himself into her room _(I think I have to talk to that useless stuffed animal about protecting the Mistress)_, where the bear was perched prominently on the desk. He thought for a second about rearranging her covers, currently on the ground, but stopped when he got a good reading. She was so swathed in her brother's protective cloaking that in his magical eye, all that could be seen was a solid sheen of brown. 

On the roof, he pulled out a pick from his hat and began the slow process of opening the stitches holding the ear in place. _Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut…cut…_wrapped up in stitches, he barely noticed when a figure landed on the roof. It was only when it tripped his circle and cursed softly that he spun around, his sword at the person's neck.

"Onamae wa?" The figure moved into the light of his circle. Syaoran's eyes opened.

"Hiiragizawa Eriol des. Demo…" he moved closer, his voice dropping an octave "Clow Reed des." Syaoran narrowed his eyes and pryed carefully into his magic centre. Sure enough, the remains of his famous ancestor gleamed a brilliant blue.

"What do you want?" Eriol smiled.

"Just a little something…a loan, really." And without warning his hand shot out of his pocket and into Syaoran's chest, where it came back with a thick band of green. Syaoran buckled in as if his lungs were being pulled out. When Eriol seemed satisfied, he broke the cord and Syaoran slumped onto the ground. He swiftly rolled it up and pocketed it, then raised his descendent into a sitting position.

"Gomen-nasai, Li-kun," he said softly, his voice back to its original pitch, "demo…Sakura-san needs to do this on her own. Actually, I think you might have let her anyway, from your performance during the Judgment, but…as much as I loath to admit it, for my end scheme, this," he patted his pocket, "will be quite necessary." Eriol sat up and shimmered for a second, and reappeared in Syaoran's apartment. He stood still, then shot around and threw out a binding spell.

It bounced back at him, thrice enforced. Eriol fell, narrowly missing the sleeping form of Syaoran. Within seconds, a tall figure loomed over him.

"Onamae wa, and what did you do to Syaoran-sama?" Eriol's mouth formed words that he did not want to speak; damn the old man's mesmer.

"I am the reincarnation of Clow Reed, Hiiragizawa Eriol, and I have taken three-quarters of Li-sama's magic to help me in my end scheme and to prevent him from assisting Sakura-san too much." The man looked at him and then released the bind. Eriol sat up, massaging his arms. He looked at the man.

"But you will not tell." The man smiled and handed back a line of blue fire, his mesmer.

"I would not tell anyway, Reed-sama. May I apologize for attacking our revered master?"

"Oh, no, please. Hiiragizawa is just fine."

"Konbawa, Hiiragizawa-sama. Li Wei des." Eriol smiled.

"Not the infamous Li sensei?" the two men laughed, as if at an inside joke. Then Eriol turned serious.

"Wei-sama, I have been noticing…an abundance of power here in Tomoeda. Do you have a slight suspicion that Tomoeda might be the…?" Wei placed a finger to his lips.

"We shall know in time, we certainly shall."

~*~

"Look at that fog, To-ya," Tsukishiro Yukito pointed as he accompanied his friend back to his house, his sister on his back. Kinomoto Touya glared at it.

"That's no fog, Yuki."

"It's so thick…we won't be able to get Sakura-chan home!" Touya looked at it even harder.

"My imouto is running a fever. No damned fog is going to keep me from getting her to our house!" With those words, he stepped out. Almost immediately, the fog thinned along the road, enabling the two men and a few desperate bikers to continue on their way home. As soon as they left that street, it fogged up (and a few groans could be heard), but the next cleared up. Yukito glanced at his friend hesitantly. Touya sighed.

"It's okay. I just want to get her home, k?" Yukito smiled.

"Seems like someone has a pretty strong sister complex…"

"Shaddup."

~*~

"No baka! You're sick! Why are you out here?" Sakura looked into the angry eyes of Syaoran weakly.

"Demo…there was the presence of Clow…" Syaoran made a noise within his throat. Why else was he here? And she _shouldn't _have needed to come…but there was something wrong…

"Sakura!" Syaoran stared at his hands, where moment before the Card Mistress had lain. Mentally cursing, he sat down and pulled out his compass. Placing his hand in the middle, he focused on getting a power reading. When the board heated up, he lifted his hand and swore. _Where did it all go? This is just fog!_ He clenched his fists tight, his nails digging into his palm. The fog around him thinned somewhat reluctantly, but thickened almost immediately. Slumping down again, he passed his hands over the cuts in his palm.

_What the hell is going on?_

He was about to stand and try again when a stiff magic-laced wind picked up and blew all the fog away. Instantly, he saw Sakura below him, and jumped down. She was laying there, without a fever, wearing a coat…

_~*flashback*~_

_"And this is a painting of Our Revered Master Clow Reed in semi-formal dusk fall wear…note the delicate stitches around the high collar and the fitted sleeves…and see the buttons, each laid down in perfect golden angles to the hidden basting used to hold it together…"_

_~*end flashback*~_

Syaoran glanced over the collars and the sleeves, noting the same details that the museum keeper (a great-step-uncle one and a half times removed, he believed) had explained once with such energy. This was Clow Reed's coat, no doubt about it.

_Quarter magic or none, I am going to track him down._

~*~

"Eriol-sama! You're enshrouded in a spell!" Eriol hung up his school coat and faced his sun guardian.

"Very good eyes, Spinel. There's a Chinese tracking spell set on me, and I thought it wise to hide myself." Spinel checked behind his master.

"That is no normal Chinese tracking spell. That is a full-fledged Q'tar Follow Dragon. Dare, Eriol-sama?" Eriol smiled.

"It's my very persistent and dear descendant." Spinel frowned.

"But you reduced him to quarter capacity…and if he was unable to dissipate the fog, how could he summon that?" 

"Seems like he has been concentrating and focusing his magic very hard, for a number of days now." Spinel snorted.

"Very hard, indeed. He's going to work himself sick* if he keeps this up!"

"I know, Spinel, I know."   

~*~

"Syaoran-kun! Daijoubu?" Syaoran blushed further upon receiving the attention of the Card Mistress, when did nothing but blend into his already flushed face.

"Hai. Nandemonai, Sakura-chan."

"Hontou?"

"Hai…"

"If you're sure…" Sakura walked off to catch up with her friends and Syaoran dropped his head down on the table again. After a week at the tracking spell, he had given up, apparently not quick enough. And with Wei at the Li estate, soothing the Elders over loosing the Cards, he would be on his own to cook…and suddenly, even rice was loosing itself upon our young magician.

Syaoran sat on his sofa, his stomach grumbling all the while. He had to get up…he had to get up… The doorbell rang, interrupting his thoughts. Dragging the quilt along with him, he shuffled to the door.

"Syaoran! You liar!" he perked up upon seeing the concerned face of Sakura at his door. She bustled in, closing the door and pushing him to the sofa as she took out something that smelled wonderful from a bag. Of course, in his state that cake-type-thing that had arrived in the post from Meiling had also smelled wonderful, but still…

"Hai," a bowl was pressed into his blankets, filled with noodles and pieces of chicken. She had already left to the kitchen, and the chopsticks were sitting on the table. By now, he was shivering if he tried to step outside his cocoon, so he just closed his eyes tightly.

She was back within a minute, and she hurried when she saw his state.

"Oh, Syaoran-kun, do you have any idea how sick you are?" She clucked and placed a thermometer in his ear, pulling it out a second later. 

"Hoe! Thirty-eight point eight!" she pulled out the chopsticks and fished out a piece of chicken with some rice, "say ahh!" Syaoran willingly obliged, as his stomach was currently threatening to pack up and move to the Kinomoto residence. 

She took his temperature again after a half-hour; by the look of it, it was nothing but bad news. Her brow was furrowed as she walked to the phone. Syaoran caught a glance at he thermometer: 41.1. Lightening crashed at that moment, and the light flickered and then shut off. There was a small scream from the phone, and Syaoran forced himself up. 

"Dai-daijoubu?" Sakura put back the phone and hurried him back to the couch.

"Syaoran, you cannot get up! Did the medicine work?" She jammed the thermometer into his already-sore ear.

This time she looked near to tears. Syaoran peeked at the screen, although his eyesight was getting fuzzy.

"Nani?" Sakura pushed it into his face. Forty-two point three. Syaoran sank back. His magic was faded, used up from his summoning the dragon for an entire week. He knew that somewhere it was written that the dragon was only to be summoned thrice a year, for no longer than forty-hours, total…but he had felt the person grown weaker…even as he did…

An hour later, he had broken forty-four. Sakura was now not trying to hold back her tears as she quite liberally shoved medicine down his throat and applied cold compresses. But they might as well have been water and coals, for all the help it did.

At this point, all that was preventing him from overheating, he knew, was his magic, and it was loosing fast… Even his life-magic, worked into his very being, was perilously close to zilch. If it died, he'd pass into unconsciousness until he replenished, but in the meanwhile…

There was a knock on the door, and Sakura ran to it. A tall figure stood there, draped in a cloak. Four others, all of who entered without welcome, followed her. They started towards the living room, and Sakura held up her hand.

"O-onamae wa?" The first figure just brushed aside the hand and spoke in an authoritative, feminine voice.

"Ying Fa… everything will be all right," she brushed back her hood to reveal herself as the Li matriarch. The four figures lowered their hoods also, and revealed themselves as the four Li sisters, "Fuutie, Xiefa, Fanren, Feimei! Set up the circle!" the four scuttled away, placing various precious stones polished to perfection around their sleeping brother. Li Yelan turned to the Mistress.

"There is no more time to spare. Come, watch." Sakura sat in a corner as Yelan took her fan and preformed some complicated passes and turns, finally drawing a large 'X' and shattering a yellow screen that had arisen from Syaoran. As soon as she finished, she flipped and turned towards the window. In a blink, she vanished.

The four sisters gathered around Syaoran who was sitting up and rubbing his eyes. They widened upon recognizing the four in front of him, and he tried to dive and duck away a moment too late. Sakura smiled and walked to the window. 

Yelan appeared to be talking to someone, but she was in front of him/her…Sakura couldn't quite make out who it was…

"You did something to my son!" Yelan brandished her fan under her chin, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. Eriol shook his head slowly.

"I have stood guard all night to ensure that if necessary, your son's life magic could be restored, keeping him alive until I could perform the ceremony myself, if needed."

"But you do not deny that you stole some of his magic anyway? Do you not know the penalties that you could charged with due to stealing his magic?"

"I am well aware of the charges, but there is a loophole in the law that allows me to perform my duty. I wrote that law, you know." Yelan's face did not change as she encompassed this piece of information.

"Someone has been blocking my Sight from the area of Tomoeda. I have had to direct my power here to be able to See. It is lucky that I decided today to focus. I have not had to focus in a long time to See anything. All things appear clear to me." Eriol nodded.

"True it is lucky, and it has been me that blocked any Sight. I am duly impressed at your ability to break through my shield." Yelan laughed.

"Shield? Boy, that was no more than a hand covering a mountain." Eriol smiled.

"I then hope that you will help me keep an eye on the doings of Tomoeda?" 

"I shall do more than that. I shall give you an eye." With that, she produced a golden eye on a chain, "This is the Eye of the Summoning Dragon, Q'tar. It will help your weak Sight, as it is not your strong point – nor your predecessor." Eriol looked at her.

"You know the mistakes Clow made. And you know that now my son has to live with the results." Eriol bowed his head until Yelan left. When she was gone, he quickly shimmered back to his house.

"Kaho? Kaho!" the red haired woman floated down and looked around wildly.

"What? What!" Eriol fixed her with a glare.

"You never mentioned how damn difficult it is to get a good night of spying in, without a million people slapping bindings on you and interrogating you!" Kaho just laughed.

"You just be glad that you haven't met Kinomoto Touya as yet," there was a loud knock that shook the entire house, "or maybe I spoke too soon!" She smiled and drifted up as she disappeared. Eriol walked to the front and looked up.

"Ah…Ohayo gozimasu, Kinomoto-san? AAAAH!"

~*~

AN: Well, this was much longer than usual…I'm so sorry for not updating in so long! It's so unlike me, and I'm sorry. Gomen. 

This turned out macho long. I mean, for a second, I almost considered just chopping out the sick part and turning it into a one-shot story, it's so long!

*the sickness: well, I'm also sorry to saw that I switched around a LOT between manga and the anime show. For those of you who don't know:

- **In manga AND anime**: When Sakura transforms the Fly and Sword, she is tested with a huge bear that destroys things. I made it so that after Eriol helped her make it, she waited a day before giving it.

- **In manga**: When Sakura transforms the Windy card, it's because Eriol creates a heavy fog that she dissipates.__

- **In manga**: Sakura is actually sick during the fog sequence (that's why Touya and Yukito are taking her home), and Eriol feels bad because he didn't know (not having attended school that day), so he dissipates her fever and covers her with his cloak before he leaves. Syaoran takes this cloak and tries to use a tracking spell to find Eriol. I tweaked it a bit, adding the **Q'tar Follow Dragon**, which is a mythical dragon that tracks things, but extensively powerful, so Syaoran shouldn't have used it for that long. Although Yelan begs to add that all Li members could call the dragon for way longer than a week, just Syaoran wasn't powerful enough due to an [censored] [censored] [censored] Eriol.__

**Yelan**: Damn right!

**Fuutie, Xiefa, Fanren, Feimei**: Yes ma-ma, come along now…__

- **In a side-manga**: Not really part of the story, but there's a short sequence where Syaoran gets sick with a fever and Touya makes food so Sakura can go give it to poor wittle Syaoran…well, I made that a bit AU, but still! __

Oh, and in some magics, setting up circles is a very hard and powerful job, so the sisters aren't pushovers either!

I have no idea if there is anything more I want to really add, besides the ending…well, I'll watch the anime for suggestions, since this chapter was almost entirely spawned out of reading the second Master of the Clow manga. And the **Q'tar Follow Dragon** looks something like earth's Shelong, from Dragon Ball. I like that series, cause Goku is all little and cute! KAWAII!

**Tomoyo**: YAY! KAWAII!

**Nakuru**: Oh, me too! KAWAII!

**Rest of you**: Dear Kami-sama, help us…

Review! I love you all!

wicherwill ^_^

P.S. Poor Eriol…


	9. Chapter Nine

"Up until I came to Tomoeda, I never met anyone whose powers could stand next to Clow's." Kero looked at his mistress, whose tears were still fresh on her face, "As Yueh said, it's only natural that a child like you couldn't support them all. Don't worry." Sakura smiled through her tears and walked downstairs to start her homework. Kero floated to the window, where he sat on the windowsill.

"Until I came to Tomoeda…but the strongest one wasn't you, Sakura." 

                                                                                                                       ~*~

"Before…you could always tell who was approaching, even with your eyes closed. It's because you gave your powers to me, isn't it?" Touya looked at the face of his friend and sighed.

"Yuki…let's say you were just about to settle into a huge lunch, and I came by looking like I was dying of starvation. What would you do?" Yukito looked horrified.

"I'd give all to you!" Touya nodded.

"I did the same thing," he said.

_'No, you didn't,'_ a small inner voice interrupted his reassuring his friend, _'you didn't give it *all* to him.'_

_'Shut up!' he said back._

_'You didn't give it all…you kept some for yourself, you greedy pig…if you were dying of starvation, you would die if Yukito was as greedy as you…selfish…'_

_'I said, SHUT UP!'_

"Shut up!" The last words burst out of his mouth, and Yukito looked alarmed.

"What? I didn't say anything!" Touya shook his head.

"Just…just some inner voices in my head." Yukito laughed.

"To-ya? Have inner voices? Don't worry, you're too kind and generous!" Touya smiled back, weakly.

"Thanks."

~*~

Sakura's hands tightened around her staff, her nails drawing blood as she fought to change the last two cards. The light flared up, but then started to dim again. Sakura's eyes glazed over. _Iie…_

"Here, I'll help," a voice said behind her.

"Iie, Syaoran-kun. If it doesn't work, then you'll sleep too!" Syaoran looked at her.

"I don't care," he said, putting his hands on the staff. He concentrated, sending what was left of his magic straight to the top, pulling her magic along with his.

_Doushite no?!_ his mind rebelled as he ran out of power abruptly, almost as if he had been holding a rope, and it had flew out of his hands, but he had _known_ that there was more rope…

_Hiiragizawa—bear—magic—took!_ As Sakura muttered her invincible spell, Syaoran remembered what had happened that night on the Kinomoto roof. Anger surged through him, heating his magic and transforming the cards within seconds. As he felt her move forward to use Light, he let himself slump to the ground.

_How could I have been so…stupid? So ignorant?_ His thoughts collided in his head, and he barely noticed that it was light again, and that Sakura was leaving…

"Sakura!" she walked over to him, concern written all over her face. It was now or never…

"What?"

"Watashi…watashi…Anata wa suki!"

~*~

"Eriol-kun said…that…to seal Void, one of us has to give up our-"

_~*flashback*~_

_"feelings for the one you love most. Void is a card of nothingness, remember that. If another seals the cards, it might not matter. The stronger of the two of you will give up your most important person."_

_~*end flashback*~_

Syaoran took a deep breath as his mother's voice washed over him.

"Well, then I suppose…I suppose we have to catch it soon." He pretended not to notice Sakura's hurt expression as she turned to him suddenly.

"You…you don't care?"

"The card needs to be caught." He bowed his head as she ran out of the park, guilt washing over him. She was stronger, that much was true, but…

"It's still going to be me." The words echoed slightly in the cave, the rain drowning out the sound and matching his feelings.

~*~

Sakura stood there, the Void card sealed and changed in her hands. Any second now, her feelings for Syaoran would disappear. She had to tell him, now.

She turned around, to see a dark bubble envelope Syaoran.

"Iie! Syaoran!" He looked at her, almost apologetic.

"You…you used a lot of cards today, so my magic is stronger than yours." Syaoran flushed with both the attention she was giving him and the semi-lie he had told. He could feel the Void pressing on the sides of his mind, and he subconsciously started pushing it away. As the bubble enclosed him, the pressure increased…he would never be able to hold it, it was part of a contract that could not be broken…he _must_ let go now, or his mind would crack and he would go insane.

Syaoran blinked as the bubble – and the pressure – disappeared. All that was left was a crying Sakura, and…he smiled. If you filled a Void with Love, there would be Hope, and therefore he was free. Or something like that.

"Even though you can't hear me…I just wanted you to know…Syaoran…Anata wa ichiban da yo!" Syaoran smiled. Everything would be all right. Zettai daijoubu.

"Sou ne."

~*~

AN: Okay, I swear I didn't mean to write this chapter. I told myself, harshly, to write the ending and the epilogue type thing, and to dump this idea in the rubbish bin. Of course, that worked well, as you can see. *smiles sheepishly*

Once again, the nihongo is so rusty that I doubt it can move.

**Anata wa ichiban da yo**: You are my most important person.

**Anata wa suki**: I love you

**Zettai daijoubu**: Everything will be all right (Sakura's invincible spell)

**Sou ne**: Me too.

**Manga/Anime(?)**: They probably also have this scene in the anime…but it's after Sakura finds out about Yue being low on power, and Kero and Yue try to reassure her that she could never have been as powerful as Clow.

**Manga/Anime(?)**: (I don't want to dig that episode up)At the festival where Eriol makes the horse come to life, Yuki is feeling bad about Touya giving up all his power. Touya tells him the above story, and in reality (I think…) does give all his power to Yuki, but what fun would that be?

**Anime/Manga(?)**: (I still have to get the last two manga books) Sakura needs to transform the last two cars, Light and Dark, to dispel the darkness, but has to do them together, and they're the most powerful cards…so, Syaoran, Yueh, and Kerberos helped her. And later, Syaoran blurts out that he likes her.

**Anime**: Sakura calls Eriol and finds out that the 53rd card, when transformed, takes the feelings of love from the strongest person. In this story, it is definitely Syaoran.

**Anime**: By cannon storyline, Sakura becomes tired out after using all those cards, so Syaoran's feelings get leeched. Here, he was stronger anyhow, so the deficit just became bigger. 

Since there isn't anything left for me to dissect, rest assured that you will get your final next!

Until then,

               wicherwill ^_^


	10. Epilouge

Sakura Kinomoto clenched her teeth to prevent the splitting pain of her headache from getting to her. The current demon was too fast; a split moment of hesitation would certainly mean death.

With a cry she jumped and swiped to the left. The inhuman roar of pain was the only sign that she had hit something in the torrential rain that had accompanied its visit for the past day.

A fresh wave of pain surged through her head, and the pressure in her jaw was forcing her to relieve her bite. The new throbbing in her temples was accompanied by a cry of pain and the clang of a dropped sword. 

The blackness was threatening to take over, and her body was so numb that she could not jolt herself back to her senses. She slumped down, feeling the monster's massive chi unleash itself near nearby; its prey was weak, and it going for the kill. Sakura closed her eyes and prayed that it would be quick. Tears began to flow down her face as she thought about little Ying Fa and Kozue…and Syaoran…

A clang sound from above her caused her to open her eyes a hair, but before she could warm, green magic had picked her up and placed her beneath a tree. Propped against a cushion of air, Sakura's eyes opened wide at the sight of her husband dodging the monster's attacks with relative ease.

Syaoran swung left and right, smirking at the demon's roars of frustration. The chi blast had unmasked the demon's cover, and that would mean that the Guard was all alerted. 

With a special ofuda strapped to his sword, he swiped directly at the demon's centre and vanquished it. He slumped down, breathing heavily. Something was wrong; no way a demon that small could have had so much energy. Mentally recalling the Book of Darkness, he started flipping the pages, immersed in finding out which demon that had been. Sakura started to get up, to go to him, when she felt another chi hurtling towards them. Her eyes opened wide as the energy reading overloaded her senses; she bit her tongue hard. She _had_ to get to him, he wasn't focused, and this was no ordinary demon…

Sakura choked back a scream when the demon hurtled a massive ball of chi at her husband. The scream quickly turned to sobs; _no-one_ could survive that blast…

Syaoran sat up, mind wandering quickly. This demon…this demon…

_~*flashback*~_

_"Shô – prefix describing the strongest of the demons."_

_"Hai."_

_"Shôrin- the demon of fear."_

_"Hai."_

_"Shômu – demon of fire."_

_"Hai."_

_ "Shôqui – demon of water."_

_"Hai."_

_"Shô-shô – master of demons. Sealed by Honourable Master Li the first."_

_"Very good, Syaoran-sama."_

_~*end flashback*~_

Syaoran swore violently as he masked his own chi. This was _not_ good by any stretch of imagination. If Shô-shô had escaped from his ancestor's seal, that could only mean it had gotten stronger. There was only one thing left to do – there was no way that he could alone vanquish the demon which had claimed the life of the most powerful magician this world had ever seen. Taking a deep breath, he unhinged his sword from the hilt and blew into the resulting hole.

A long, low note resounded throughout the air, time seemed to freeze, and it went on, and on, and on… Sakura let out a gasp that went unheard as what looked like shooting stars slammed into the ground around Syaoran, who continued to stand there. When the flash had dissipated enough to see, Sakura glanced around. But…these were…just…

"The Guard comes at the call!" they said together. Sakura started naming names. Yueh, her onii-chan, her otou-san, Mizuki-sensei, Li-sama, the four Li sisters, the ghost of her okaa-san, Eriol, Kerberos, Ruby Moon, and Spinel Sun.  

A piercing cry filled the air, and Sakura felt what remained of her power divide itself and send one part towards the gathering. When the light faded for the second time, Sakura had to brace herself against the power that the group now controlled. It was…magnificent, and words could not do justice to the grace that flowed around the individuals.

As on, they lifted and pointed towards the black mass that was the master demon. Time seemed to freeze again, and Sakura could swear she saw the beam burst from the formation, arcing its way through the night sky, towards the demon, slamming with full force against it, and the roar of pain and anguish and _defeat_ that echoed throughout the park and seemed to never end. As soon as every last trace of the demon had vanished, the glowing sensation of the group seemed to diminish, and they were once again the people that Sakura knew. Fujitaka was the first to speak.

"As I'm the only one here without long sight, does anyone care to tell me what happened to my daughter?" The group divided as Syaoran came towards the tree Sakura was sitting under.

"Yes, she was fighting the largest of Shô-shô's spawn when she fell unconsci-" he froze, and everyone knew exactly why.

Staring back at the entire group were two glassy emerald orbs. There was a collective gasp from the group, and they all were thinking the same thing. The thing that Syaoran wanted the least had manifested.

Sakura had seen the extent of Syaoran's power.

~*~

Syaoran walked into their bedroom late at night and turned on the nightlight. He jumped when he saw his wife sitting on the edge of the bed. Recovering, he said lightly,

"How long have you been sitting there?"

"Since I came home."

"Ah." There was silence for a while, and then Sakura spoke up.

"Today, for the first time, I looked at the cards," her voice was shaky, probably from a good hour of crying, "and I realized that…that _these cards hold the spirits of the most powerful forces on earth_. And when I examined them further, I realized that I should have never been able to catch them with the power level I had when I began. _You did that too, did you not?_" Syaoran couldn't meet her eyes, and merely nodded. Sakura took a deep, shuddering breath.

"And when I was changing Void…there was never any doubt that you would be chosen?" Syaoran nodded again, "And the demons I've fought all this time…you were helping." Syaoran bowed his head.

"So, basically, I'm useless." Syaoran shot up.

"No. Sakura, look at me," he shook her, "Look. At. Me." He faltered the moment she did, her emerald eyes filled with tears. He had never been a good improv speaker.

"Sakura…I've been trained to fight these things. I know how to defeat these demons, and my magic has been honed from the moment I was conceived. It's only, well, natural, that my magic exceeds yours. It's only natural that the rest of the Guard is so powerful. My mother has trained, non-stop, for all sixty-four and a half of her years. Your brother is what is known as the Gate Keeper. He chooses the fate of spirits. Eriol is the incarnation of a sorcerer who managed to tap fifty-three spirits in raw form. You were thrown into your power late, and were never trained. Your total magical experience is around twenty years, so _you could never compare_.

"Do you know why, then, you are known as the most powerful sorceress? Look around you, look at your cards. They are all circling around you, not me, because they love you and are trying to tell you that they care. Do you know how much energy it is taking me, right now, to prevent all fifty-three of these spirits from flying at me in a rage for making you cry? If you were angry at me, and wanted these cards to hurt me, I would be dead by now. Even as it is, you aren't, but they still are furious at me.

"Do you see now? You're just so…nice, and loving, and you might not know it, but _you control every one of these spirits_. These cards, despite their fancy clothing and compact form, are the embodiment of raw, unadulterated power that is fire, water, wind, trees, and all others. Did you know that Clow killed a number of demons using Sweet? You've won over the fire, the water, the wind. You have every single one of these elements under your control.

"Believe me when I say that, in theory, I am the most powerful magician on earth at this moment. And believe me when I say that I don't hold a candle against you in the amount of power you can control." Syaoran finished, his throat a little bit raspy. It came down to whether she believed him or not; whether she could forgive him or not. She explicitly told him, in their first encounter, to leave her to her business. He solemnly swore in their wedding vows to leave her alone. Many times over, he broke her trust in the one thing that she had requested him not to.

When she didn't stir, he closed his eyes and stood up. If she wasn't forgiving him, she was angry. He would be dead any moment now if he didn't leave. 

He turned to the door and came face to face with a cage of ice he knew was spiked with lightning. Well, that was settled. She wanted him dead, and he deserved it. If anything, however, he would like it to be painless, so he pulled out an ofuda of ice to numb his body.

"Syaoran no baka…" he turned around to see his wife wiping away her tears.

"H-hai?"

"Syaoran no baka…of course you're forgiven. I asked you not to help me, but I asked you to protect me. Come to think of it," she added, "onii-chan did too, so you actually saved yourself a bloody death from not letting me die at the hands of all those demons, especially the one that scared me with all the ghosts."

"Shôrin," he said quietly.

"Yes, him. And," she turned on him, "you could have told me you were so powerful, then I might not have been so convinced that Shôgun had killed you."

"Shôrin."

"Yes, whatever. But seriously," she looked at him, "I'm not mad. Just a little…peeved that you didn't trust me enough to tell me. And in the future, could you teach me a bit about the demons I'm about to face, especially if no human being could survive sealing it?" Syaoran laughed.

"Well, with the vanquish of Shô-shô, and the sealing of the Shô in general, it'll take some time before some of the smarter dumb demons figure out how to cross planes into ours. So you need not worry about it for a while." Sakura looked at him, blank.

"In Japanese, please?"

"Uh…there aren't going to be demons until your next reincarnation." Sakura smiled.

"Thank you," she said, kissing him. He leant back, Sakura on his tummy, and relaxed, ready to get some sleep. That is, until she sat up and elbowed him in the stomach.

"Ow!"

"Sorry…what did you mean, my next reincarnation?" Syaoran winced.

"Well, as a bearer of strong magic and the cards, you – and I – will both eventually be reincarnated, and technically we both realize who we were at the age we came into our magic. So I get to ogle over you for around ten years before you realize who I am." Sakura bopped him on the nose.

"Hopefully you'll survive onii-chan before that…that will be something, two-year old chibi Syaoran fighting seven-year old onii-chan over me, and I won't even know you." Syaoran smiled and flipped to his side, pulling his wife closer to him. He smiled, burrowing his face in her hair as she snuggled close to him, warm and ready to just sleep.

"OHAYO-GOZAIMASUUUUUU!" Sakura opened one eye, cross, as her daughter Ying Fa came bounding into their room.

"I always wondered…why, if she looks like me and takes after me in every respect, why does she have to always get up early like her father?" she put out her arms and hugged her daughter tightly, as if she were a doll. 

"Ying Fa! Get out! Okaa-san and Otou-san were out late and they're sleepy!" Sakura smiled in her sleep as her oldest son tried to be considerate. Opening one eye, Syaoran motioned for him to come over. It was quite scary, actually, how much like Yue he was.

"Oh, come here, Kozue. I take it you actually slept in the night for a change?" Kozue was one hundred percent Ying, drawing all his power from the moon. This meant, of course, that his power and energy grew during the waxing of the moon, and shrank during the waning. Of course, at both he was equally powerful, but as last night was the New Moon, he was knocked out. Nodded sleepily, he crawled over to his father's right.

"Went to bed at six. Noticed you were out." He yawned and closed his eyes. Ying Fa also yawned, her momentary energy spent.

"Kero-chan was playing Street Fighters, and I played too…it was really late when I slept…" she turned over, out like a light. Sakura shifted slightly so that she could see her husband.

"I'm going to have a word with that stupid stuffed animal (*a-choo*)…" Syaoran frowned as Sakura smiled.

"Oh, come on. This way we can sleep without – anyone caring…" she yawned in the middle, and turned over, asleep. Syaoran dragged her towards him, and she shifted a little bit.

He smiled, looking at his family and the beams of morning sunlight that were streaming in the room. Downstairs, the plushie was sitting, and it needed a lecture…again…but as of right now, he was content to fall asleep surrounded by the ones he loved best.

                                                                                                                 ~* FINI *~ 

**AN**: Wow…it's finished…I finished it…it's not even that long, I'm losing my touch…oh, and I had to constrain myself from writing a ball of fluff in that ending. I just had so many WAFF ideas, and I wanted to use them, but I knew I shouldn't be…

On the other hand, I've now got time for other stories! Which is good! And I'm going to go finish Dear Koi-chan, which you should read! (*shameless plug*)

Now, to thank reviewers who have always reviewed:

**Semmerie**: She even put me on her favourite authors list! I was so touched! And she's a really good writer, with nice spacing and stuff!

**Anime Queen**: She actually said okay to my persistent asking to be her beta! Even after I forgot to check my email! She's got some great romance fics, and you should read them!

**Water-Soter**: Ne, thanks for reviewing! She writes X-men, and they're really good, if you know X-men! So go check it out!

**tzuky**: You aren't a ff.net person, but I'm thanking you for reviewing twice!

Until next time,

                        wicherwill ^_^


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